Suffice it to say, a lot of awesome news came out of San Diego Comic-Con this year. But if anything got people talking most, it was arguably the announcements pertaining to the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
To briefly recap, this initiative will unfold on both the big and small screens. On the movie side of things, we have Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder all on the way. Meanwhile, on the Disney Plus streaming service, there’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If…? and Hawkeye to anticipate.
You may have noticed some glaring omissions in the form of Marvel Studios’ recent billion dollar babies, but head honcho Kevin Feige says we have no reason to worry. Here’s what he had to tease at SDCC:
“We didn’t even mention that we’re making Black Panther 2. And we didn’t mention that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is coming. We didn’t even have time to talk about Captain Marvel 2, by the way. I didn’t even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four. And there’s no time left to talk about mutants.”
Given how lucrative Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy have proven to be on their own, it’s a certainty each will be granted sequels before long. All we need to do is give the filmmakers time because nobody is going to whip up a screenplay overnight.
Believe it or not, Phase Five was nearly announced as well, but Feige decided not to throw too much out there, saying:
“We debated what we should announce today. Should we announce Phase Four and Five? We’ve planned them out, we’ve got five years down the road and I was like, I think eleven projects in two years is plenty having not mentioned anything for two or three years.”
If anything, this seems to support the school of thought saying Thor: Love and Thunder will indeed function as the finale to MCU Phase Four. Beyond that, we should receive Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Blade, Fantastic Four and maybe even that New Avengers movie being talked about. Regardless, it’s an exciting time to be a True Believer.